The invention relates to a motor vehicle interior with a central jet of a heating and/or air-conditioning system located in a dashboard and having at least one outlet duct. The jet has a movable horizontal and a movable vertical air guide system in the exit area of the outlet duct for controlling the blowing direction, as well as an air state sensor located in a roof area of the interior for regulating the heating and/or air-conditioning system.
A motor vehicle is known from German Patent 37 30 467 C2 whose interior is supplied by a ventilating system. This ventilating system has a central jet in a central area of a dashboard, from which jet the air from a heating and/or air-conditioning system can be blown into the interior. Such a central jet has a horizontal and a vertical air guide arrangement which are adjustable by means of suitable control elements in a horizontal and in a vertical plane. In a roof area of the interior, behind a rear-view mirror or in the vicinity of a roof operating unit, an air state sensor is mounted to detect the state of the interior air. As a result, it may be located in the area over which the central jet blows. With increasing tilt of the windshield, the sensor is displaced increasingly further into the area over which the central jet blows, especially when the air stream is directed upward, so that it can sometimes detect incorrect temperature values.
An object of the invention is to provide a motor vehicle interior of the type referred to above, whose air state sensor always detects real interior temperatures so that the vehicle interior can be temperature-controlled precisely and reliably by the heating and/or air-conditioning system.
This object is achieved according to preferred embodiments of the invention by the horizontal and vertical air guide systems being linked with one another by mechanical forced guidance to control their movement so that they cover a maximum blowing area that avoids the roof area provided with the air state sensor. The vertical air guide system according to the invention is an air guide system that has vertically aligned air guide elements and thus conducts air in a vertical plane. Conversely, the horizontal air guide system is responsible for the size of the horizontal outward flow area of the air. The invention prevents air blown directly out of the central jet from flowing over the air state sensor and delivering inaccurate values for regulating the heating and/or air-conditioning system.
By disposing the air state sensor in the flow area of the central jet, as is the case in the prior art, only the air state values of the air flow that has just left the central jet are detected. However, this frequently does not correspond to the state of the air in the interior, especially when the interior temperature is to be increased or decreased. If it is relatively cool inside the vehicle, the air blown out through the central jet to increase the interior temperature must be much warmer than the air already in the interior. However, if the air state sensor is subjected to the direct flow of this warm air, the heating and/or air-conditioning system will be turned down again in response to the values it detects, although the desired temperature has by no means yet been reached in the interior. The same problem occurs in the opposite case, when a relatively warm interior is to be cooled by the air-conditioning system. According to the invention, the movements of the horizontal and vertical air guide systems are limited in such fashion that the interior area in which the air state sensor is mounted is not subjected to the direct flow of the air as it is blown out. Therefore, the actual state of the air in the interior can be detected reliably by means of this air state sensor. Incorrect or falsified regulation of the interior air by the heating and/or air-conditioning system is avoided.
In certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the forced guidance of a guide element is associated with the vertical air guide system and coupled with the horizontal air guide system, said element limiting the pivoting movement of the horizontal air guide system upward in a pivot range of the vertical air guide system at the level of the air state sensor to an upper marginal outflow area located beneath the roof area. As a result, by means of a simple mechanical solution, the horizontal air guide system is controlled in a functionally reliable fashion such that the air guided through this air guide system does not reach the roof area and the air state sensor.
In another embodiment of the invention, the guide element is mounted on a pivotable air guide element of the vertical air guide system and has a helical rise curve that abuts one corner of an air guide element of the horizontal air guide system. This is an especially simple design, since the pivoting movements of the two air guide systems are utilized directly to achieve a forced linkage between the two air guide systems.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.